Subletting Apartment From an Estate

[assorted]

I am currently living in an HDFC apartment under the TIL program in NYC. I was the roommate of the owner of the apartment who died in January 2009. Currently the apartment is in probate court as the mother of the deceased apartment owner is trying to transfer the apartment to her name. I am now subletting the apartment from the mother/estate. I have paid rent for the apartment for 2.5 years now and the electricity etc. are in my name. The estate was just served with a Notice to Cure from the coop stating that they are illegally subletting the apartment (as they have not received board approval to sublet as required per the terms of the bylaws) and they have 30 days to rectify the situation or have there lease terminated.
My question is a)what are my rights as a former roommate/current lessee of the estate? b)Does the coop have a right to serve an estate, or do they have to wait until the apartment is transfered? c)What are my best strategies to avoid and/or delay eviction as long as possible? d)Any lawyer recommendations who would be familiar with both TIL law and my situation?
Thanks for any advice!

[TenantNet]

As with any rental, the unit owner (the estate) needs to take you to court to remove you, I suspect, in a licensee proceeding. But I would get a legal opinion to see if you might be able to assert any tenancy rights.

Also, if the estate has not gone through probate, any eviction proceedings might be stayed. In other words, the estate cannot seek your ouster if the surrogate court has not yet determined they have the right to do so.

What was the arrangement while the deceased was alive. Did he live there with you? What was the board's position then?

These things can get complicated and you should find a tenant lawyer with estate experience. (in addition to HDFC). Are you sure it's TIL? I thought TIL and HDFC were two different things.

[assorted]

Thank you for your reply TN. Maybe I did not state the facts clearly enough. The estate is currently subletting the apartment to me and is happy with me staying there. The Coop board of the TIL apartment (it is definitely a TIL apartment) has served the estate with a Notice to Cure on the grounds that they are illegally subletting the apartment to me. While the Notice to Cure does not directly effect me, it indirectly effects me because if the estate's proprietary lease with the coop is terminated for illegally subletting, the Coop will then move to evict me as a squatter.
The estate has not yet gone through probate.
The deceased was the owner of the apartment which he (and the rest of the building) acquired under TIL. I was the roommate of the deceased and paid him a monthly rent. The Board never took an official stance on my tenancy while he was alive.
Do you know of any lawyer who specializes in TIL and estate law?
Thanks!

[TenantNet]

You can call the lawyers that advertise here.

The estate needs to use the impossibility defense. They cannot push you out if it's not gone through probate. The coop board's action is premature.

While I don't know how it would play out in court, while they call it subletting, you're really a tenant in my opinion. That's because so-op owners are called tenants. They own, but technically own shares, not the actual unit. It's slight of hand.

Even if you were a real tenant, that does not necessarily mean you have tenancy rights because of the way coops are set up.